Who is at the door? Oh, it is Gorbachev
誰在門口？噢，是戈巴契夫

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is pictured during the opening of a conference to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Green Cross International, founded by him in 1993, in Geneva, Switzerland on Sept. 2 last year.前蘇聯領導人米哈伊爾‧戈巴契夫去年九月二日在瑞士日內瓦，出席其於一九九三年創立的國際綠十字組織的二十週年慶祝大會。

Photo: AFP照片：法新社

In the scripted world of high-profile diplomacy, every move is planned weeks in advance, with seating charts, menus and toasts subject to careful scrutiny.

So imagine Britain’s surprise when Mikhail Gorbachev made an unannounced, spontaneous visit to the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street in London.

This happened in December 1984, when the future Soviet leader — chief architect of the liberalization program known as perestroika — made a landmark trip to Britain.

Afterward, an impressed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told then-US president Ronald Reagan that Gorbachev was a man the West could do business with.

Gorbachev’s impromptu appearance at the prime minister’s home was revealed in a confidential telegram made public on Jan. 3 by the National Archives under the “30-year rule” for declassifying secret documents.